A few of the highlights of “Disturbia” is
the performance from David Morse who is very entertaining as the
resident villain who may or may not be a killer. If you have any common
sense, then you know that he may, but in spite of the zero mounting
tension built on his character, Morse does what he can and comes out
ahead as usual. Carrie Anne Moss’ performance as Kale’s mother is
strictly utilitarian, but she’s a very likable actress who is
interesting as Kale’s constant foil and moral center. As for Sarah
Roemer, she’s a looker if I do say so myself, I expect a large career of
many roles, and zero acting ability.

If you’re willing to ignore all the obvious
positions our characters are put in, “Disturbia” will be pretty
excellent. I wasn’t willing to ignore all the obvious marks, so I found
it to be pretty damn frustrating. Let’s see, there’s our character Kale
who is known for being a liar and deceiver, then there’s our mom who is
so self-involved, she can’t listen to our hero, and of course a cop who
has it out for him who we know will just come in the nick of time to
help our hero when in trouble. And then there’s that nasty habit of the
film being so utterly derivative. If there was ever going to be a remake
of “Rear Window,” you could basically re-title this and not know the
difference. “Disturbia” is a pretty cheesy thriller that is never afraid
to flaunt that it’s so predictable.

The house arrest, and
elimination of all distractions leads to nosiness and our
hero’s potential questioning of his own sanity under cabin
fever. Thus, we’re supposed to be led down this path of
whether the neighbor across the street is or isn’t an axe
murderer with something to hide. And of course there’s our
Grace Kelly mark, the woman in peril we know will be
involved with our homebound hero and potentially suffer the
wrath of the maybe killer.

“Disturbia” can only lead us on the “is he a
killer or is it all Kale’s imagination” trail before it starts to get
old. It then dispenses with the firm but bloodless action that’s
centered around forced tension, two scenes mimicking the Grace Kelly
house probe in “Rear Window” sans the biting suspense, and a finale
that’s both rushed and forced; meanwhile, the focus on the psychotic
neighbor next door is minimal so he's barely a threat, characters are
under-developed, and Kale's best friend is used for comic relief that's
barely comical, and distracts from the story. We're also forced to focus
on Kale's budding relationship with his next door neighbor, which all
becomes nothing more than padding, since she's never put into as much
immediate danger as Moss' character is.

When
it's necessary to bring the movie to a close, the writers bring the
entire story to a screeching halt in favor of a climax that's dropped on
our laps and left with little terror or aftermath. All the while we're
questioning the dubious behavior of the neighbor. Why would the character put up such a
front to cover his crime and then go completely loco attempting to kill
everyone in his path? It simply made zero sense. But, the writers seemed
hasty to wrap it all up in the ninety minute mark, and wrap it up they
do, even if it ends on a cheesy happy ending that never really sells
this as a legit thriller in the end; this leaves about many dangling
plot points. Is Kale over his father, what was the connection between
Kale's father and the killer? What about the poor girl in the basement?
Is it really that easy to get over all your issues if you have a hot
girl by your side? It's hackneyed, and it all just feels like something
I’d read in “Fear Street” from R.L. Stine, and even those books had more
suspense, and violence than this mediocre rehash.

It’s
mediocre, but that goes without saying. In the end, it’s not a terrible
movie, but then, it’s hardly a good one either. It’s neither horror, nor
thriller, just a teen melodrama set to a thriller backdrop that I could
take or leave.

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